


Other Times

by purajobot935



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, MTMTE, Past Character Death, Slight spoilers for MTMTE 37, The Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye (IDW), maybe slight canon divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-11
Updated: 2015-02-11
Packaged: 2018-03-11 21:24:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3333392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purajobot935/pseuds/purajobot935
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chromedome and Rewind discuss some of Rewind's comments in MTMTE 37 and how it could impact both their relationship and them as individuals. Whirl plays relationship counselor... sort of. Actually Whirl is just Whirl.</p>
<p>Enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Other Times

**Author's Note:**

> I need to write this mostly to calm my own feels after reading that conversation, and this is what I imagine their talk might have been in the few hours that passed between past-Whirl arriving at the Rodion Police HQ and the Senate's thugs arriving to kill Orion's partners.
> 
> Will probably get jossed in MTMTE 38 or any other future issue, but for now, this is my headcanon.

**Other Times**

Rewind regretted the words the second they left his vocalizer. In front of him he watched Chromedome's spark break and heard the pain bleed into his voice.

"Is that what you want?"

No. No it wasn't, he realized. It wasn't what he wanted at all. He wanted some closure, sure - to find out what had become of his long-lost partner so he could finally move on - but it had come out all wrong and now he didn't know how to take it back. He didn't was to lose this infuriating, ridiculous, wonderful mech, not again, and he struggled to come up with a reply.

His silence only seemed to affirm Chromedome's belief that it was indeed what he wanted. 

Whirl called for their attention Chromedome immediately turned his head towards the crazy mech, heaving an exasperated sigh that masked a deeper weariness. Rewind's sharp optics did not miss the lone tear that leaked out from under the yellow visor and ran down his facemask, but before he could say anything, Chromedome had already left him to join Whirl.

He moved to join the two larger mechs as they looked across to Rodion Police HQ, his plating brushing against Chromedome’s as he moved to stand in front of them, and Chromedome flinched - as if the touch had burned him - taking a half-step back to put a bit of distance between them.

Rewind looked up at him in surprise, but Chromedome’s gaze remained fixed on what was happening on the street, and after a moment he turned around and crossed the space to sit back down - slightly further away from where they’d been sitting together before - back to him and Whirl.

_Clunk!_

“Ow!” Rewind rubbed the back of his head and glared up at the blue mech beside him. “What is your problem?”

"You're an idiot."

"What are you talking about?"

"The Senate may have taken my face and my hands, but my audio receptors still work fine, just so you know." Whirl's mono-optic focused on him. 

Rewind crossed his arms obstinately. "Stay out of this, Whirl."

"Normally I would, but given how Skids is a few million years away, and Brains is trying to win the award for most confusing Decepticon plan to date - though which date exactly I'm not sure right now - I figured I'd step in and take one for the team. After all, I did save your life."

"You did?" 

Whirl sighed. "Well, not you. The other you, and by proxy your Junxy's life - or the other your and this... - oh forget it, you know what I mean."

Rewind looked at him flatly. "So you want what? A thank you?"

"No. I want you to kindly not undo all the hard work I did to keep him alive. Do you have any idea how painful it is to jumpstart someone else' spark with your own? It's like someone driving a needle through..."

The archivist glared darkly. "I dare you to finish that line."

"You get the picture."

"I will push you over the edge." Rewind threatened. "And I'm still not sure what you're trying to say."

"And here I always had you pegged as one of the smarter guys on board." Whirl flung his hands up dramatically. "Look, if you're so eager to be rid of him, then just do it. Walk away now and don't come back. There's bound to be a Relinquishment Clinic somewhere in all these time jumps."

The two words hit harder than any of Whirl's physical blows ever could. Rewind glanced back to where Chromedome was seated, no longer looking up at the stars, but keeping his head bowed, shoulders hunched like he was trying to curl in on himself, and he remembered: walking into a clinic, past a few Decepticons and the one lone Autobot sitting curled in on himself with his head bowed like he wished the ground would open up and take him. And he had walked right past, not even caring that for all these mechs, it would be their last day alive.

Could he still walk past? "I can't."

"Thought not."

"What should I do?"

Whirl snorted. "The slag are you asking me for? Do I look like couples therapy to you? Now slag off, I wanna watch myself rough up Crossbar a bit. It was fun. Primus, what was up with my paint job back then? Hey, younger self! Blue's a good color on you! You better remember that!"

Rewind slowly backed away.

::::::::::

Chromedome paid no attention to the banter behind him, not really in the mood for Whirl's snark. Whatever good mood he'd been in a while ago, just being able to hang out with Rewind and indulge in a favored pastime that he hadn't been able to do in a little over six months, well that had been crushed the moment Rewind mentioned bringing Dominus Ambus back. He sighed and looked down at his hands.

"If I punch my past self in the face for that hideous paint job, would I feel it on my face at the same time? Would that make me unvincible?" Whirl continued to rant and ponder. 

"I didn't know Whirl could channel Sunstreaker." Rewind's voice came from beside Chromedome's shoulder, and it was a testament to how low Chromedome was feeling that he didn't even startle.

"Whirl's full of surprises."

Rewind sat next to him. "I heard he saved my life. What happened?" He saw Chromedome cringe and wondered if this had been the right topic to bring up. 

"I wasn't there personally, but... there was a bomb. It went off, and you and Cyclonus got caught in it. I found you lying there and... and I got you to the medi-bay. Your spark was shrinking and I..." Chromedome buried his face in his hands. Rewind noted that at some point the needles had emerged and realized how upset the other mech had to be for them to trigger involuntarily. "I couldn't save you. My spark wasn't strong enough so Whirl volunteered."

The Minibot watched as one of Chromedome's hands moved to the back of his neck and rubbed it, needles lightly scraping on the metal - too light to do any damage. He shivered a bit, recognizing the significance. "Chromedome..."

"I couldn't save you, Rewind!" he burst out and even Whirl glanced back. "I couldn't save you from that, I couldn't save you from Overlord, I couldn't save you from what the DJD did to you." The sigh that escaped his vents was shaky. "You're the one who's always saving me, mostly from myself. Without you I'd be dead."

And there it was: the reason why he knew deep inside he would never be able to truly reunite with Dominus - because to do so, for a mech who vanished on him a couple of million years ago, would be to lose Chromedome forever.

And not too long ago, he had.

Rewind snatched his hand away from his neck and held it tightly between his own, forcing himself to touch the needles to try and get them to retract. "I watched you die." They both knew what he meant. "And I was ready to follow you. I wanted to. But then you're here, and it's both you and not you and we're still figuring this thing out."

Chromedome raised his head slightly to look at him. "I said I'd give you time. Rewind, I'd give you anything, just..."

"To get Dominus back means I have to lose you." Rewind's visor dimmed. 

"Maybe we weren't meant to work out." The words were familiar and Chromedome tried to tell himself it didn't hurt.

"I never want to see you die ever again." The look of disbelief on Chromedome's face was enough for Rewind to know he was needed more in the present. Well, past-present. Or was it present-past. Time travel was confusing.

"But what about..." He was still expecting to hear that Rewind wanted to leave. 

"He'll turn up one day and I guess I'll decide what to do then. For now..."

Whirl's lone optic turned their way. "If you lovebots are quite done with whatever issues could have really waited for a better time than this, we've got some new visitors heading our way."

Rewind sighed. "For now let's deal with this and hope there's a present for us to get back to."

Chromedome nodded and slowly climbed to his feet to follow him. They had almost reached Whirl, when he paused. "Rewind, I... That is, I... I..."

He stopped and looked back at the larger mech. "I know."

And then the screaming started from inside the precinct. 

~ END.


End file.
